This page contains specific information about telemarketing in Canada. For more general information, consult the telemarketing article.

In Canada, telemarketing is regulated by the Federal Government of Canada. The department specifically in charge is the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, usually abbreviated CRTC.

Laws & tips to reduce telemarketing calls

For those who find that telemarketing calls are an annoyance there are many remedies available, many without any cost, available under Canadian law and regulation. Tips from the CRTC's website include:

• As a first step, call the telemarketers directly and ask to be removed from their fax lists or tell them you want to be placed on their "do not call" lists when they contact you by telephone. Most problems will be resolved at this point.
• If you are unable to contact the telemarketing company or if you continue to receive telephone calls/faxes, contact your telephone company for assistance.
• If you aren’t able to reach the telemarketer or have yourself removed from a fax/calling list and if the telephone company has been unable to assist you, contact the CRTC and we will pursue the matter on your behalf.
• In addition, you can register to have your telephone numbers removed from marketing lists by mailing your request to the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA), P.O. Box 706, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T6, or faxing it to (416) 441-4062 or by completing the registration form at www.the-cma.org . Not all telemarketers are members of the CMA so this will not eliminate all unsolicited telemarketing calls. Make sure you indicate your first and last names as well as your complete address number and all telephone numbers, including any Ident-A-Call numbers. This free service is valid for three years and applies to telemarketing offers received by mail, telephone and fax.
• You might also wish to consult the front pages of your local telephone directory under Privacy Issues to see what you can do to have your name removed from any directories made available by your local telephone company to publishers of independent paper and electronic directories, including the Canada 411 Internet directory. You might also want to contact your local telephone company directly to be removed from its telemarketing lists.

Common sense tips

• Keep the faxes you receive;
• Note the date and time of the phone call and, if it is available, any number that appears via call display; and
• Write down the date, time, full name of the person you speak to at the telemarketing company or the telephone company, along with a summary of your conversation.

Rules all telemarketers must follow

These are rules that all telemarketers must follow for calls within Canada:

• Callers must identify the person or organization they represent.
• Upon request, callers must provide the telephone number, name and address of a responsible person the called party can write to.
• Callers must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where the caller can be reached (except where the number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
• Names and numbers of called parties must be removed within 30 days of the called party’s request.
• DO NOT CALL lists are to be maintained by the calling party and remain active for three years.
• There are no calling hour restrictions on live voice calls.
• Sequential dialing is not permitted.
• Calls are not permitted to emergency line or healthcare facilities.
• Random dialing and calls to non-published numbers are allowed.

External links

The CRTC's Website on Telemarketing